WJPA Sports

Chartiers-Houston softball lost back-to-back WPIAL playoff games. The Bucs then had to play through the eastern half of the statewide bracket, logging nearly 1,000 miles and topping three straight district champions to earn a berth in the state championship game for the first time since 2010. Now, the WPIAL’s 4th place team will face Laurel, the team that beat Char-Houston in the WPIAL third-place game, 6-5. The two will play at Penn State’s Nittany Lion Softball Park and on WJPA-AM (1450). Our coverage starts at 10:45 am. Listen Here This is Laurel’s first-ever PIAA championship game appearance. Chartiers-Houston lost five straight state finals before topping Montgomery 16 years ago for their only championship.

Friday, June 12
PIAA Softball Championship Softball Brackets
10:45 am 2A Chartiers-Houston vs. Laurel at Penn State, WJPA-AM (1450),  Watch/Listen Here

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Los Angeles Dodgers two-way star Shohei Ohtani was lifted for a pinch hitter in the seventh inning of Thursday night’s 8-6 win over Pittsburgh due to left knee inflammation. The reigning NL MVP hit his 13th homer of the season, a solo shot, in the third inning. He also had a single and walked twice, reaching base in all four of his at-bats. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts downplayed the significance of the injury and said the move to take Ohtani out of the game was precautionary.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Andrei Svechnikov scored twice and Sebastian Aho added a second-period goal in a breakout game for Carolina’s top-line performers, helping the Hurricanes beat the Vegas Golden Knights 4-2 on Thursday night to move within a victory of winning the Stanley Cup. Captain Jordan Staal added his fifth goal in the series. It all came together in Game 5, with Svechnikov’s short putaway at the post on the power play giving Carolina a 4-1 lead midway through the third period. Brandon Bussi finished with 22 saves in his second career postseason start. That gave the Hurricanes a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series. Game 6 is Sunday night in Las Vegas.

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Julián Quiñones and Raúl Jiménez helped Mexico make an exuberant start to the World Cup by scoring a goal each in a 2-0 win over South Africa in the opening match of the tournament. With a capacity crowd of 80,824 watching at the iconic Azteca Stadium, co-host Mexico started the largest World Cup tournament in history by getting goals in each half while three red cards were shown — two for South Africa and one for Mexico. Quiñones gave Mexico the lead in the ninth minute. Jiménez added the second goal on a header in 66th.